Syzran - Encyclopedia Britannica 1911

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

SYZRAN, a town of Russia, in the government of Simbirsk,. 156 m. E. of the town of Penza, and a short distance from the Volga. Pop. (1882), 24,500; (1900), 33,046. Syzran originated in a fort, erected in 1683, to protect the district from the Tatars and Circassians. Most of its inhabitants are engaged in gardening and tillage. In the large villages of the surrounding district various petty trades are carried on. The town has long been in repute for its tanneries and its manufactures of leather. Several flour-mills and other factories have recently sprung up. Much grain is exported; timber is brought from the upper Volga, and manufactured wares from Nizhniy Novgorod.